About Me

I was a reporter and columnist for 40 years for a chain of newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. I'm a military veteran having served in the United States Army Combat Engineers (Cpl. E-4) and a Korean War veteran with an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America

Zebari said on CNN Sunday that al-Sadr's Friday claim that he is establishing a new fighting force to battle U.S. troops in Iraq "unacceptable."

"The Americans are there with the consent and the approval of the Iraqi elected government," he said. "Americans are there. They're our friends. They're sacrificing. So, therefore, whatever happens to them, actually, we should feel that pain. And this is unacceptable."

Over the weekend, Iraqi government troops prepared a new push against "outlaws" in the southern province of Maysan, north of Basra near the Iranian border. Those "outlaws" may trade medium and heavy weapons and explosives for cash rewards and amnesty until Wednesday, and the prime minister is also offering amnesty until Wednesday to suspects "who do not have the blood of innocent people on their hands," an official in the prime minister's office told CNN.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki raised the possibility that his country won't sign a status of forces agreement with the United States and will ask U.S. troops to go home when their U.N. mandate to be in Iraq expires at the end of the year.

Maliki made the comment after weeks of complaints from Shiite Muslim lawmakers that U.S. proposals that would govern a continued troop presence in Iraq would infringe on Iraq's sovereignty.

"Iraq has another option that it may use," Maliki said during a visit to Amman, Jordan. "The Iraqi government, if it wants, has the right to demand that the U.N. terminate the presence of international forces on Iraqi sovereign soil."

Earlier, Maliki acknowledged that talks with the U.S. on a status of forces agreement "reached an impasse" after the American negotiators presented a draft that would have given the U.S. access to 58 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and immunity from prosecution for both U.S. soldiers and private contractors.

KUFA: Hardline Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr will set up a new force to battle US troops."We will not stop resisting the occupation until liberation or martyrdom," Sadr told his more than 60,000-strong Mahdi Army militia.

The fight against US troops will now be waged only by the new group, while other members will "take on a social and religious role," Sadr said in a statement which was read out at mosques in the holy Shi'ite town of Kufa.

The announcement came amid controversy in Iraq and in neighbouring Iran over negotiations between Baghdad and Washington for a new pact to cover the US military presence when a UN mandate expires at the end of the year.

Talks on the pact are at a stalemate because of US demands that encroached on Iraq's sovereignty, said Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, who is visiting Jordan.

So many times this blogger is asked this question. Why is it the press in the United States doesn't cover the Iraq war? We have wrestled with the question and finally come to the conclusion there are a variety of reasons. The mainstream media in the United States is now owned by corporations, and many of these corporations have subsidiaries that are making huge profits from the defense industry so the honchos at the networks don't want to do anything to upset the money apple cart. Then there is another ingredient that as a former GI myself I see only too clearly. Very, very few people in the United States have a vested interest in the Iraq war. They don't have a relative in uniform, and in many cases they don't even know anyone who is in the military and overseas in Iraq. And finally, there is the mainstream media itself. Most of the people who work in the mainstream media NEVER served a day of their lives in the uniform of any branch of the United States military. They don't know what it is like to be go through basic training. They have no idea what it is like to be in a war zone. In short, the editors and reporters in the mainstream media just don't give a damn. "Where have all the Flowers Gone?" is a VERY GRAPHIC VIDEO that captures what the Iraq war is all about. Pete Seeger provides the music and we highly recommend this video, but with a WARNING there are images that are very, very gruesome.

The Iraq War has long ago been forgotten by the mainstream media in the United States even though we still have 160,000 troops in Iraq. This GRAPHIC video with music by METALLICA captures the Iraq war like it should be seen on television in the United States so the people of this country would have some idea what our brave young men and women are going through every single day in Iraq.http://www.youtube.com/v/rmTANwe56F4&hl=en&rel=0

The media in the United States has filtered out everything that has to do with the horrors of the Iraq war, but this video captures the true essence of what is happening to the innocent Iraqi civilians inside of Iraq which is being kept from the people of the United States by the mainstream media. WARNING: This video is very, very graphic.http://www.youtube.com/v/ApsfQzQDzi0&hl=en&rel=0

The invasion and occupation of Iraq by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and the rest of the Bush White House warmongers has led to thousands of Iraqi children left without a father. We thought on this Father's Day it was only appropriate to post this video of how the Iraq war has affected the children of Iraq.http://www.youtube.com/v/g1x0d7AU6HU&hl=en&rel=0

President Bush's job approval ratings in the United States are in the low 20 percent range, and overseas he is also regarded as a total failure. Bush and his wife Laura arrived in London on Sunday and were greeted by crowds of people protesting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush wants British PM Gordon Brown to change his mind and not remove the remaining 4,000 British troops from Iraq, but that is not likely to happen.Bush flies to Britain, faces protests over Iraq, Afghanistan

LONDON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush arrives in Britain Sunday to take afternoon tea with Queen Elizabeth II, hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and visit Northern Ireland on his farewell European tour.

But his visit is set to be marked by protests from anti-war campaigners unhappy at the reception for the architect of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and police restrictions about where and how they can make their voices heard.

President Bush is in Great Britain and the Observer in Britain is reporting Bush has told British Prime Minister Gordon Brown not to pull the remaining 4,000 British troops out of Iraq. Bush warns Brown over premature Iraq withdrawal: report

LONDON (AFP) - Britain should not jeopardise coalition gains in Iraq by withdrawing its troops prematurely, US President George W. Bush said in an interview with The Observer newspaper published Sunday.

Newspaper reports here this week suggested Prime Minister Gordon Brown could soon announce a final timetable for the withdrawal of its remaining 4,000 or so troops from southern Iraq by the end of the year.

Brown told his monthly news conference that he hoped to make a statement to parliament before it breaks for the summer recess next month.

But Bush, who arrives in London Sunday from Paris, said that while he recognised the pressure in both the United States and Britain for such a draw-down, it could only be "based upon success".

"Our answer is: there is should be no definitive timetable," he told the weekly."I am confident that he, like me, will listen to our commanders to make sure that the sacrifices that have gone forward won't be unravelled by draw-downs that may not be warranted at this point in time," he said.

"I look forward to discussing it with him."

Bush and his wife, Laura, meet Brown and his wife, Sarah, for dinner at Downing Street Sunday evening following afternoon tea with Queen Elizabeth II at her Windsor Castle residence west of London.

The two leaders then go into meetings Monday morning before visiting Northern Ireland.It is the first time Brown has met Bush as prime minister on British soil and he faces a likely vocal demonstration by anti-war campaigners opposed to British and US involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan.Click on link http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080614/pl_afp/britainmilitaryiraqusbushfor full story.